UNLV Law Professor Named to Interior Department

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A University of Nevada, Las Vegas law professor has been appointed as one of six deputy lawyers with the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The university announced Tuesday that Bret Birdsong has been named a deputy solicitor for land resources. He and five other deputy solicitors will report to the Interior's top lawyer, Solicitor Hilary Tompkins.

The assignment begins July 15.

Birdsong will be leading a team of attorneys that advises the Bureau of Land Management on how to manage nearly 250 million acres of public land. He'll work on legal issues surrounding renewable energy, wilderness, livestock grazing and national monuments.

Birdsong has been on the Boyd School of Law faculty since 2000 and teaches courses on natural resources law.

Before that, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice.

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